Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Eugene A. "Gene" Cernan, USN Ret. (1934-2017)

Among the very last photographs ever taken on the Moon, immediately following a third and final EVA at Taurus Littrow, December 1972, Harrison Schmitt captured a gritty, dusty Apollo 17 cmdr Gene Cernan, just after their retreat to the relative safety of their lander. Findings from the Apollo landings demonstrates the challenge presented by the course fineness of lunar dust to human and spacecraft health. Astronauts report the lunar surface material smelled a bit like ozone and gunpowder. Cernan, 82, passed away January 16, 2017 [NASA/JSC].